Deep Purple
by imagineHP
Summary: It's 1976, and Lily Evans and James Potter are in their sixth year at Hogwarts. As they face teenage drama and struggle to find themselves as they grow up, the political atmosphere around them is getting slowly darker. They, and their friends, are children of the crossfire, their teenage troubles plagued by the war brewing around them.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1- The Train Ride

She was cool. People admired her. She had the kind of coolness that only a childhood in a rough industrial city could teach. She was chippy. She was rebellious. She never did as she should without questioning it first. She didn't subscribe to the popularity hierarchy of school, or of life. Therefore, the fact that she was, and had been, friends with those much less cool than her, such as one Severus Snape, only seemed to make her cooler. Much to the annoyance of those students who did everything to be popular, and shunned those who weren't. She had never been like that. She was popular by default. Always beautiful. Always the height of fashion. She was Barbara Hulanicki's dream child. Her hair was thick and intensely curly, bright ginger in colour, and almost waist length. The new floppy fringe she had cut in herself over summer framed her doe-like green eyes. Emerald and almond shaped, outlined with thick lashes and black powder, her eyes shone out of her pale, freckled face. Her rosebud lips rested lazily around a half smoked cigarette. Which, she noted as she stubbed it out on the train platform, just served to make her look cooler. Her long fingers moved to the inside of her pocket, against the fur lining, and checked for her wand. It was there, as she remembered it. She pulled out a lip gloss and applied it in the reflection of the train's window. Her bag was already aboard, so all Lily Evans needed to do, was board the train.

She hummed as she walked down the train, glancing into the compartments as she went. It had been raining earlier that day, and Lily's flares just barely touched the wet carpet. She pushed her fringe back from her eyes, and continued looking. About halfway down the train she found a familiar face. She pulled back the compartment door, which was incredibly stiff, as the girl inside looked up from the large book she was reading and smiled at her. Amelia Bones was often found reading, as she was now, or doing extra homework assignments. Lily had heard through the grapevine how exceptionally well she'd done on her OWLs, and was wondering how long it would be before the girl began studying for the NEWTs.

"It's good to see you!" said Lily, as she realised, upon seeing her again, that it had actually been quite a while since she had seen the other witch. She felt guilty that she hadn't much noticed the time spent apart before now.

"How was your summer?" Lily asked, looking at her friend for the first time in months. "It was okay, I got loads of studying done for this year," replied Amelia, "I did a tour across Europe with my parents to see some sights of historical witch burnings! You know, just so I can have real insight for when I write assignments on it for History of Magic."

"Oh that's cool," said Lily, her stomach dropping as she thought of her own summer, which was certainly not spent studying. She probably would have studied a little more, in a usual summer holiday, but this year had been quite unusual for her in that it had lacked a key person. It had been her first summer not spent with her, now ex, best friend. He probably would have encouraged her to study, have worked with her, and perhaps prepared her a little more for the upcoming years of school. But, yet, she hadn't spent her summer with Severus Snape, and she hadn't done any studying. And she probably wouldn't have changed any of it.

Chattering outside the compartment caught the girls' attention, and they looked up to see two more of their roommates pushing the stiff door open. One had dark hair, the other blonde, and the dark haired one struggled with the door before managing to, rather aggressively, shove it open.

"Fuck me," she said, panting. Lily smiled at her, for she was her best friend. Selena Merrythought, the dark haired girl, had spent practically the whole summer with her redhead friend, and threw herself down next to her. She pushed her short, chocolate brown hair off her brow and looked around the compartment.

"Is Mary not here?" she asked, though she clearly wasn't. Lily shook her head. The other girl, the blonde, sat down next to Amelia.

"I think I saw her getting on the train with that Ravenclaw she's dating," she said. Selena rolled her large amber eyes at this.

"God he seems boring," she said, "I hope she doesn't spend the whole journey with him, we just need her and then we're all reunited." Selena lounged back on the seat, her long legs resting on Lil y's lap.

"Hey Flo," said Lily, addressing the blonde girl sat across from her, "Did you have a good summer?" Amelia was just telling me that she saw some sights of witch burnings-"

"Oh it was incredible Florence," began Amelia, and Florence, or "Flo" as many called her, turned to face her. Amelia began to tell her all about her travels, obviously as she had intended to tell Lily before the others had arrived. Florence listened politely, chewing her pale pink lips in boredom. Her eyes were not focussed on Amelia as she told her story, but were rather distant, as if her mind was elsewhere. This was not unusual, however, for Florence Lovegood, whose mind so often seemed to be elsewhere. She ran a hand through her knotty blonde hair, which was long enough to reach her thighs and, to anyone slightly more socially astute than Amelia, made it quite clear that she wasn't really listening.

Selena caught Lily's eye and gave her a knowing look. She took out her wand and mimed hexing herself. Lily stifled a laugh. She tied an imaginary noose around her neck, Amelia caught the gesture from the corner of her eye and rather swiftly ended her story. Selena let out a yawn.

"Excuse me, I'm still jet-lagged," she said, looking to Lily to make sure she had used the correct term. "Me and Lil just got back from New York last night."

* * *

He was cool in a drastically different way. He was a risk taker, a troublemaker, a class clown. He was cool because he was rich and he was spoiled and, as such, he didn't much care for the consequences of his actions. He too though, like her, didn't care for the social hierarchy, and was best friends with the slightly odd Remus Lupin, and the slightly snivelling Peter Pettigrew. He was handsome, famously so across the school. He ran a hand through his thick black hair and ruffled it up, as to look as though he had just gotten off a broomstick. It now fell across his large blue eyes, which were framed by thick glasses. They rested on a smattering of freckles upon his nose, and he pushed them up as they had begun to slip down. He always looked slightly undone, as was his attention, as though his appearance had just happened upon him. No thought was put into how he looked, but he always looked good, that was his aim. And James Potter achieved that quite successfully.

James arrived at platform nine and three quarters with his best friend, Sirius Black, on account of them now living together. They stood on the platform for a few minutes, wondering whether to wait for their friends, or to board the train and get a compartment. It was Sirius who decided, after he caught a glimpse of one Lily Evans standing a little further down the train. They boarded as a pair, with James not yet knowing how Lily had cut herself a new fringe, grown taller, become curvier, and looked more beautiful than ever before.

He couldn't see her yet. Not after the summer. Not after his pact with Sirius.

It was rather common knowledge, across the whole school, across all years and all social circles, that the handsome devil-may-care sixth year boy had a crush on Lily Evans. Much to the disappointment of many a Hogwarts girls, Lily had been the one for James since their first year. And while he had dated others, he'd had too many an opportunity to turn down, it had always come back to her. She, however, had always disliked him and, apart from the presence of that git Snivellus, he could never understand why. They had argued quite spectacularly before the summer holidays, in an incident that had also ruined her friendship with Snape. And while Snape's misfortune always made him happy, he had been moping around for the whole start of the summer. That was when Sirius had intervened.

"I can't do this anymore mate," he had said, one sunny July afternoon which James was using to sulk in his room, "I think I'd rather move back home."

"What?" asked James, the surprising nature of the comment momentarily snapping him from his sulk.

"You are being so draining James!" he said, "What are you going to do? Spend your whole life pining after Evans? It won 't make her like you."

"Oh great, some best friend you are."

"I am a good best friend that's why I'm doing this, James!"

"Doing what?"

"I'm launching an intervention."

With that, Sirius called over their other two best friends, reuniting the group known as the Marauders. Together, they forced James into a pact where he would promise to try to move on from his crush on Lily Evans. He had to try to squash his feelings. They knew it wouldn't be easy, but it was something that he had to do. He had managed, so far, to have a Lily-less summer, but he just knew that when he saw her again, his old feelings would begin to bubble up.

As he sat with his best friend in the compartment, he kept the redhead far from his mind. They talked about quidditch instead. Sirius was a chaser on the team, and James was keeper and Gryffindor captain. They played plenty over the summer, and couldn't wait to get back into the season. Being on the team only increased their popularity, and their attractiveness to Hogwarts' female population. Not that James and Sirius needed any help with that, they were considered to be amongst the most attractive boys in school.

Those who received slightly less attention from the fairer sex were the remaining Marauders, who had just joined James and Sirius as the train began to roll out of the station. Remus was reasonably good looking, actually, it was just that a lot of people didn't notice it when he was stood up next to his loud and attention drawing friends. He was quiet and unassuming, and his appearance reflected that. He was boy next door handsome, husband material. Unfortunately for him, this was 1976, the sexual revolution was underway, and not many girls wanted a nice quite husband just now. Certainly not many he knew.

Peter, who was typically rather unsuccessful with women, had a shocking revelation to make on the train that morning. He had a girlfriend.

"Fuck off," said James, happily surprised, "You sly dog, Wormtail!"

"When did this happen?" inquired Sirius.

"Over summer," he replied, "We've been going strong since mid-July."

"I can't believe you kept this from us, Pete!" said Remus, "Go on then, who is she?"

"Oh Merlin yeah!" said Sirius, "Do we know her? Who is she?"

Peter looked slightly awkward, and shuffled in his seat.

"I'm not telling you," he said.

"What?!"

"You can't do that!"

"What's the big idea, Wormtail?!"

"I'm not telling you because you'll only take the piss and then ruin it," said Peter, to his astounded friends.

"Us? Take the piss? The audacity!" said James, in mock offense. The others laughed.

"You don't have to tell us who she is if you don't want, Pete," said Remus, with a kindness that was uncharacteristic for the Marauders in a situation like this.

"But you _do_ have to tell us if you've popped your cherry!" he finished, with the others falling about laughing. Peter blushed, and noticing the other boys watching him, made a nervous nod. The Marauders erupted into cheers and uproarious laughter.

* * *

Severus Snape purposefully didn't look at his appearance that morning, well, ever, if he could help it. He wished he looked more like his friend Rosier, who wasn't hugely attractive, but was good looking enough that he always had a girl or two chasing after him. Rosier was sat in the compartment, in the seat opposite him, speaking with a kind of verve that Snape had never seen before form his generally apathetic friend.

"I want to join," he said, speaking low but quickly, "I want to join _him_."

"Me too," granted Mulciber, another one of their friends, if a slightly less attractive and stupider one.

"And me, as well," said Avery, the thin boy sat next to Mulciber.

"What about you, Severus?" asked Rosier, and the other two boys turned to look at him. He was looking out of the window as he had listened to their conversation. He turned around to face them.

"Yes," he said, "I want to join _him_ too."

* * *

"New York?!" said Amelia and Florence at the same time. But before Selena or Lily could answer, the compartment door was opened a third time. They had now been travelling for several hours, and had expected the interruption to be Mary, their other housemate, and were all surprised to see James Potter and Remus Lupin at the door.

"Hello ladies," said James, confidently.

"Hi ," said Selena, "I was wondering when you'd show up. I've missed you lot of summer." James grinned.

"Selena and Lily were just about to tell us about their trip to New York," reminded Florence, who was obviously eager to hear about their travels.

"New York?!" said James and Remus, together.

"We went to CBGB's," explained Lily, "It was incredible." James' jaw dropped. Despite the club being a muggle place, anyone who was anyone had heard of, and wanted to go to, CBGBs.

"We went to clubs all over the East Village," Selena expanded, "But CBGBs was our favourite. Obviously we did all the touristy shit too, but we really went over for the nightlife."

A buzz suddenly filled the carriage, unlike the lack of excitement that had filled it during Amelia's story, as the gang clamoured to hear more about the trip. James was mentally kicking himself that he hadn't thought of doing the same thing over the summer, he could have even taken Sirius with him.

"What were the Americans like?" asked Florence, dreamily, her hippiness shining through, "I've heard their so much more laid back than us. They really started the whole free love movement, you know."

Lily put on an a husky, stoner-like American accent-

"_Those British girls are far out!"_ she imitated, to laughter from the others. Selena copied the same voice.

"_Gees-louise those chicks know how to party."_

"I'm looking for Mary Macdonald if you've seen her, quidditch business." Said James, once the conversation had died down.

"And I was looking for you, Amelia," interjected Remus, "We need to go to the front of the train with the other prefects."

"Oh of course," said Amelia, "I'll just change into my robes." Both of the boys were already wearing their robes, but the girls all remained in their own clothes.

"We haven't seen Mary all day," said Lily, addressing James. He had to look at her now, he had to look at her big green eyes and her fiery hair and her new nose ring that she must have got over summer. He tried not to feel anything, but a shiver ran up his spine when he looked at her. She didn't notice.

"I saw her on the platform this morning with her boyfriend, the head boy," piped up Florence.

"Oh that Selwyn chap?" asked James.

"That's his name!" exclaimed Selena, clapping, "Thomas Selwyn! I knew it was something like that."

"You said you thought his name was Travers!" said Lily, laughing, "That's hardly close to Selwyn."

"I guess I'll go look for this Travers then," James laughed, "Do you want me to send Mary your way after I speak to her?"

"Yes, please do!" said Selena. With that, James turned and left the compartment.

"He was surprisingly not awful," said Lily, almost to herself than anyone else.

* * *

James headed down the train, scanning the compartments for any signs of the Gryffindor chaser.

"Jesus, where are you?" he said under his breath, after walking almost three quarters the length of the train.

"Talking to yourself now Potter?" came a sneering voice from the compartment on his left, "Seems you've finally gone mad."

James whirled around to see an unkept, greasy haired boy with sallow skin standing next to him. Severus Snape's appearance seemed to get worse as he aged. His friends, the thick headed Mulciber, the wiry Avery, and the gangly Rosier, were all in the compartment behind him, laughing stupidly at Snape's highly unoriginal comment.

"Oooh that one really cut deep Snivellus," replied James, sarcastically, "If I were three years old, that might have ever so slightly offended me."

Snape scowled. James made to walk away.

"Not going to hex me today, Potter? Not without your goons to protect you?"

"Oh I would Snivellus, but poor Mulciber would probably give himself an aneurism trying to figure out what had happened, and I just cant have that on my conscious."

Mulciber frowned at this, his name having being mentioned offended him, but he couldn't really work out what James had said. Was he implying that he was stupid? Before Mulciber had time to work it out, and because James was not in the mood to spend his journey fighting Snape, he continued up the train.

He found Mary Macdonald in the very last compartment, right at the very front of the train. The girls were right, she was sitting with her new boyfriend, head boy Thomas Selwyn. He was a big brute of a guy, beater on the Ravenclaw team, moderately good looking, nice enough, but incredibly thick. James never liked him much. He had knocked James from his broom in fourth year, and James had hexed him later that week as a result. James pushed open the compartment door and asked Mary to come out.

"Can't be exposing any of the teams secrets to an enemy player," he said, and Thomas frowned. Mary met him outside of the carriage. She was a strange witch, in that she was pretty but in a kind of tomboyish way. She was short and slim, her skin pale and covered with freckles. She had very long, and very straight, black hair, that was usually tied back. That day, it was in a ponytail at the back of her neck. James handed her the timetable he had drawn up for quidditch practices.

"Oh so its official," she asked, looking up at him with large blue eyes, "You're the new captain."

"Yeah," said James, proudly, "Aidan Lynch has stepped down, needs to focus more on his NEWTs this year he said. Apparently he didn't do anything last year except party, shag, and play quidditch."

Mary chuckled at this, pushing a loose strand of hair behind her ear. She fancied James Potter more than she could handle. They boy sitting in the compartment behind her was nothing more than a welcome distraction. It was a role that he filled well.

"The girls asked you to go to their compartment for a bit," continued James, "If you want."

"Oh yeah," she said, absentmindedly glancing over her shoulder at her boyfriend, "I'll just say bye."

* * *

The students arrived at the familiar castle late that evening. They each knew the process like clockwork by now, the journey from the station, the sorting ceremony, the feast, the familiar path up to their respective dormitories. The only difference from the norm had been a warning issued by Dumbledore of threats made against the school. The explanation of additional security, the stationing of aurors around the school gates. Times were changing. The Gryffindor common room was full of people that night, with a small gathering of students taking place, as it often did after the welcome feast. The Marauders had managed to acquire a crate of firewhisky from an unknown source, probably illegally, and many people were having a drink. The Gryffindor girls were all joining in, catching up with everyone they hadn't seen over summer. All except one.

Florence sat upstairs, alone in the dormitory, waiting. She was something of a hippie and, as such, had been enjoying many a _herbal_ remedy over the summer holidays. She sat in the dorm, awaiting a delivery from her friend of just such a thing. So when a small brown owl came tapping at the dormitory window, she jumped up, excited, and didn't think it in anyway suspicious. She ripped apart the parcel's wrappings with eagerness. And, as she did, she soon realised that the marijuana she had expected was not what was inside. She didn't have much time to ponder this, however, as on opening the package, a strange sensation had come over her, and she felt herself drop to the ground and pass out.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2- The Strange Parcel

Amelia had decided to go to bed. It was late and she was tired from the long journey to the school. Socialising tired her out, too. She loved the girls she shared a room with, but talking to them for long periods of time was exhausting for her. She just felt like she never exactly knew what to say. She had nowhere near the status of the girl she was friends with, unable to compete with Lily and Selena's popularity, nor Mary's friendly reputation, nor Florence's infamy. Amelia Bones was more of a nothing girl. Not many people had much of an opinion on her if you asked, whether it be like or dislike. The usual response tended to be something along the lines of-

"Oh yeah, she sat next to me in charms once. She's really smart."

And that was on a good day. Her and the others weren't close particularly, but they had shared a dormitory for five years and that counted for something. They were friends because they saw each other every day, not because they had heaps in common. Amelia was nice, though, and intensely intelligent.

Even Amelia's appearance could be described as moderately non-descript. She was quite plain. Mousy brain hair fell poker straight to her shoulders, her thin shoulders, whose bones poked through the black school jumper she wore. She was rather tall and thin, that would be her most defining feature, her pinafore school dress hanging off her, obviously several sizes too big to accommodate her height. She wasn't bad looking in any way, she was just a little forgettable.

She headed lazily up the staircase to bed. The room was shrouded in darkness when she opened the door, one of the windows was left open and a cold breeze was blowing through it. There was a chill in the room, Amelia pulled her robes around her before heading over to close the window. Who the hell had left that open, she wondered. She slammed it shut, at first, due to her tiredness, she didn't notice the small blonde girl who was crumpled on the floor by her feet. When she did, she jumped out of her skin.

"My god!" she exclaimed, "What on earth are you doing Florence?" This was probably one of Florence's hippie meditation things, she thought, rolling her eyes. But Florence didn't stir.

"Flo?" she said, "What's going on? You're scaring me." Still Florence didn't move. Amelia looked around the room for help. She found none, so knelt down and rolled the smaller girl towards her. Her eyes were wide open, but were glassed over and misty. Her body was completely limp. She was still breathing though, Amelia noted.

"Florence!" said Amelia, fruitlessly, shaking her friend. Again, she remained still. Amelia was starting to panic. She gently moved Florence back to the stone ground, and got up to her feet. She was breathless with panic. She froze on the spot for a second before coming to her senses, and dashing out of the dorm. She ran straight down the steps, taking them four at a time, and barged into the crowded common room. She saw her fellow roommates by the fire, and barrelled over to them. They were in mid conversation, Lily laughing at something Gryffindor seeker Aidan Lynch had said.

"H-h-help," Amelia stuttered, the others turning to look at her, "Somethings wrong." That was all she could manage.

"What's up Mil?" asked Lily, addressing Amelia. Amelia shook her head, words had never exactly been her forte, but now they evaded her completely.

"In the dorm," she stumbled, "Florence, passed out!"

Lily furrowed her brow, looking concerned.

"Come on Selena," she said, snatching her friend's hand and dragging her away from talking to Sirius Black.

"Hey!" she protested, "What's the big idea?"

"Something had happened to Flo," said Lily, "Show us, Amelia." Amelia began to lead them up to the dorm.

"What she's passed out?" said Selena, irritably, "She's probably taken too much of something she shouldn't, that's normally Flo's problem. She has no moderation-"

"Shut up will you, Selena," snapped Lily, as they made their way up to the dorm. The lights were still out when they entered the dorm, so Selena clicked them on. The three girls walked over and sat by their unconscious friend.

"She looks really weird," said Selena, looking at Lily.

"This doesn't look like a drug thing," said Lily, and Selena nodded in agreement.

"Definitely not, this looks like-" Selena stopped talking.

"Like what, Lena?" asked Lily.

"It wouldn't be though, not Flo."

"What is it Lena?" demanded Lily. Selena looked at Lily, stupidly, before speaking.

"My uncle, he ran into some trouble once," she explained, "Ended up owing a lot of money to some really bad people. Anyway, they sent something to his house. Something that cursed him. It was dark magic. When I visited him in St Mungo's, he looked kind of like this."

Lily felt her stomach drop. It wouldn't be the first time that dark magic had been used on a student at this school. Mary Macdonald had been cursed by Mulciber only a few years before. But that was because she was muggle born. Florence was pureblood. So perhaps it was something more akin to what Selena had explained. But surely Flo, whilst she lived a little on the wrong side of the law, wouldn't have gotten into so much trouble.

"Look around," said Lily, "See if there's anything here that could be a clue."

"Be careful though," added Selena, "There could be something cursed." The three girls searched the room before Amelia gave out a shout.

"There's something here!" she said, pointing to an envelope on the floor by the bed.

"Don't touch it," said Selena, "It could be dangerous." Lily took out her wand and levitated the object, setting it down on the bed. There was something heavy, maybe metal, inside the envelope. A small note was wrapped around it. Lily managed to use magic to work the note out of the envelope and bring it close enough to read.

_For the mudbloods_.

"I'm getting McGonagall." Said Amelia.

* * *

Lily walked down to the hospital wing in something of a trance. She couldn't work out how she felt. Mary Macdonald joined them as they walked through the common room, and was filled in on the details on the way down. Lily was glad to have her there, she was glad to be joined by someone who was muggle born too. After Selena had told her what was written on the note, she dropped back, falling into step with Lily.

"You okay?" she asked, her eyes wide and filled with concern.

"I guess so," said Lily, frowning, "Its scary though isn't it, its just getting worse. I hope Flo's okay."

"Me too," agreed Mary, "But the fact that this wasn't meant for her, it was meant for _us_. Its weird, I guess I don't know what to feel."

"Yeah," said Lily, "I feel scared for myself, but I feel guilty that I'm thinking that when Flo's the one it got cursed."

"Me too," said Mary, chewing her lip. She was shaking. She was, and had been since about third year, incredibly paranoid about being targeted for her blood status. She had been a victim of numerous Slytherin attacks, in a way which Lily never had. Lily's friendship with Severus had always moderately protected her from that. But it wouldn't anymore.

"I wonder who sent it," said Mary.

* * *

Professor Minerva McGonagall made the sixth year girls of her house wait outside the hospital wing. She had been head of Gryffindor house for many years now, but never had she seen an event like this one. In fact, it was true that, in the past three years, her students had been attacked more than they had in all her years of teaching. It worried her. She was a stern woman, an older witch with her greying hair pulled back into a neat bun. She was nice looking, and had clearly been exceptionally attractive in her youth. But, that day, her lips were pursed and she frowned. She couldn't comprehend what had happened that night, as she looked at the young Gryffindor girl slumped in the hospital bed in front of her. Madame Pomphrey, the healer who worked in the school's hospital wing, fussed over the young girl. The Professor examined the gun metal grey locket that sat on the desk before her, and the ominous note beside it. It was obvious that the locket was cursed, but how and by whom still evaded her.

"It's not a strong curse," said Madame Pomphrey, at long last, "There's an easy enough counter curse to reverse the effects." Minerva breathed a sigh of relief, before a crippling fear came over her.

"It was a simple curse?" she asked, "One that was probably performed by a student?"

"Most likely."

* * *

Professor McGonagall sent the Gryffindor girls back to their dorm at around quarter past one in the morning.

"Miss Lovegood has been fully revived and there are no lasting effects of the curse," she explained and, anticipating the protests from her students, "And before you ask, no you may not see her tonight. She needs to rest."

The girls looked relieved, if ever so slightly crestfallen, and knew better than to challenge both their head of house and the formidable Madame Pomphrey.

"You may return to your dormitory," finished McGonagall.

"Thanks, Professor," said Lily, and was joined by the others in thanking her for helping their friend. They all made to leave.

"Wait," interjected their Professor, "You girls showed incredible intuition, intelligence, and bravery tonight, no less a great deal of caring and concern for your friend. You should be proud of yourselves ladies."

She beamed at the group of sixteen-year olds standing in front of her. She was proud of them. She knew that Selena, and Lily, for that matter, had served a reasonable amount of time in detention, and that the pair of them were never averse to speaking their mind. She knew that Mary could be a little bit of an airhead. That Amelia could be a little distant and somewhat cold hearted. But those girls were kind and responsible, and they had looked after their friend. That was something to be proud of.

"I will award 50 points to Gryffindor."

* * *

Lily sprinted down stairs that morning. Her roommates had all risen hours before her, and had each made valiant attempts to wake her, with no success. Selena was, uncharacteristically so for she favoured late nights, a very good morning person and a frequent early riser. She had awoken early to visit the owlery with a letter she had written to her boyfriend, Terry, a muggle boy who played drums for a relatively new band called The Clash. They had met the band in and around the club circuit all across the UK, and Selena had managed to get her and Lily VIP badges to their first gig supporting the Sex Pistols. It was all outrageously exciting. Terry obviously didn't know about the two girls' magical abilities but, as Selena has said, sometimes the truth wasn't as convenient as a lie. So instead they had described themselves as university students studying in the north of Scotland. He never questioned it.

Selena had a way with the opposite sex that transcended the usual flirting. She had a way to make every man she met melt like putty in her hand. They worshipped her. Lily had always joked that the girl was part Veela, though she bared little resemblance to one. She was probably a similar height to Amelia, perhaps 5ft 10", but was far less gangly and more curvaceous. She was beautiful, with dark hair and caramel skin she was a stark contrast to Lily, but equally as stunning. And on equal levels of popularity too.

Mary had also woken up alarmingly early, particularly so when considering the late night they'd had before, and the ensuing poor sleep. She had headed down to the quidditch pitch to practice her flying. There were no official practices yet, as the team had yet to be properly announced, though Mary doubted there would be many changes. She didn't really need the practice either. She lived in a rather sleepy town on the south coast of England, where not many people lived and those that did were over the age of sixty. She had been bored senseless over summer, and the abundance of quiet, never stumbled upon places combined with the lack of things to do meant that she had spent many a day flying. Her technique was impeccable. Improvement wasn't the reason why she had gone to practice that morning. She needed to clear her mind from the nights events, that was true, but also she would do anything, even get up at 5:30 in the morning, to impress James Potter. Commitment to quidditch was certainly a way to do that.

Amelia has woken up the same time she did every day, and purely for the reason that she wanted to be ready for the school day. Nothing would ever get in the way of Amelia's ability to arrive on time, well prepared, and well read to every lesson she took. Certainly not the fact that she had been up half the night caring for one roommate, and that she had spent the morning trying to wake another.

So Lily, unlike her roommates, was late. She ran down the stone steps of the castle, taking them two or three at a time. She held her school bag in one hand and a cigarette in another, smoking it as quickly as she could while she ran through the castle corridors. She reached the great hall just in time to get the last bit of breakfast. She stubbed out her cigarette before going in, fruitlessly trying to waft the scent of cigarette smoke from her clothes and hair. The makeup she had been wearing the day before was still painted on her face, and she had noted, in her brief glance in the mirror that morning, that it looked good enough for another day. She tugged at her skirt and woollen jumper for the sixth time that morning, the clothes feeling stuffy and uncomfortable compared to what she had gotten used to over summer. She felt frumpy. She had bought her own skirt that summer, one that was much less structured and with many more flared pleats. She wore a cardigan a few sizes too big for her and a shirt that was a little too small. The look was, overall, not a bad one, and the fashionable shops she had spent her summer in probably would have approved. But Lily felt boring. She liked to feel cool and pretty and a little edgy, and, in her school uniform, she didn't feel any of those things. She tried to ignore it. There wasn't much to be done about it. She still had her signature long red hair, that was enough to help her stand out amongst the sea of boring uniforms.

The Great Hall was abuzz that morning, as everyone tried to get their new timetables sorted and the first years started to settle in. Lily had forgotten that she needed to collect her timetable from Professor McGonagall, and stormed straight past her head of house on her way to the Gryffindor table. All of her roommates were there, apart from Florence who was still in the hospital wing, and they were sat with, oh god no, not the Marauders thought Lily. It was far too early to be dealing with that. But it was either that or sit with a group of nervy looking first years, and I suppose, in what was a rather unusual case for her, James Potter was the better option. She threw her bag on the ground and slumped into the seat next him.

"Have a nice lie in, Evans?" he asked, a goofy grin slapped across his, Lily hated to admit, handsome face.

"I'm not in the mood," she said, irritably, piling bacon and sausages on to her plate.

"Hey, I'm not judging Evans!" he protested, "I even picked up your timetable for you." Lily eyed him suspiciously.

"Why are you being so uncharacteristically helpful?" she asked. She bit her tongue at the comment that had popped into her head, that this was a flirtation tactic. She couldn't help but glance over at the Slytherin table, but couldn't see Snape. She could imagine his reaction if he'd overheard, or even caught a glimpse, of this conversation.

"I'm always helpful," he smirked. Lily raised her eyebrows at him.

"Besides, we have all the same classes so McGonagall just kind of gave me yours as well."

The piece of bacon on Lily's fork dropped back onto the plate as her jaw fell open. Remus was sat across from them and had been listening to the conversation, and, knowing Lily's disdain for his friend, a smirk began to creep across his face. Selena, who was sat with Remus, had just caught the end of the conversation and jumped in to try to save her friend from the awkward silence that filled the air.

"Any chance you've got a spare cig on you Lil?" she asked, despite having a full packet in her trouser pocket. She ran a hand through her boyish haircut, and twitched her eyebrows at her friend. Lily closed her mouth and swallowed a piece of bacon that was a little bit too big. It made her feel sick.

"Yeah," she said hoarsely, trying not to choke on the food, "I need one too, shall we head out?"

"Didn't know you two partook?" said Sirius, patting the box of cigarettes in his own shirt pocket.

"Oh come on," replied Selena, "Who doesn't these days?"

"I don't," piped up Amelia, who had been studying her timetable for the last ten minutes.

"Yeah but you don't partake in anything," said Sirius, "Unless it's school related, and certainly not in anything resembling fun."

Amelia blushed, turning a violent shade of fuchsia.

"Well at least I have some ambition in life," she snapped, "Some of us want to be known for more than dumb pranks you know."

"Its better than being known as a stiff," said James, and Amelia blushed even more.

"Oh come on guys," said Lily, "Leave Mil alone."

"Besides, its not like either of you two little posh boys are anyway near cool enough to be calling anyone else stiff." She finished.

"Oh Evans, you can't deny that we're cool," said James, looking faux-hurt.

"Listen," she said, her chippy nature coming through, "If you'd have gone to school where I grew up, you'd have been beaten up and kicked out on day one. You would have been so far from cool that even Cliff Richard wouldn't want to be seen with you."

* * *

"They were both at breakfast this morning!" despaired Rosier, pacing up and down the sixth year Slytherin boys dormitory.

"Both Evans and Macdonald!" he said, "Severus you said, you said that Evans always went to bed early on the first night!"

"She always used to!" Severus lied, he knew Lily always stayed up in the common room catching up with her friends from the summer, but he had purposefully told Rosier otherwise to protect her. He had hoped that Mary Macdonald, who was known for getting up early for quidditch practice, would have received their little delivery last night, and that it would have been enough to satiate his friend. He, personally, didn't see how random attacks on the school's muggle-born population would help them become death eaters, but Rosier was obsessed with the idea. He was particularly keen on encouraging Snape to help put Lily in danger. He was testing his loyalties, Snape knew this, but his loyalties lay with the cause. With the death eaters. With Lord Voldemort. But that didn't mean that he didn't love _her._

"It must have got that Lovegood girl," said Mulciber, as though he had just deduced something very complicated and important.

"Yes Mulciber," snapped Rosier, "We know it did. You saw her in the hospital wing this morning."

"We need to change our tactic," said Rosier, thinking, "We need to make sure that it's a mudblood next time. Otherwise the whole thing is pointless."

"The whole thing _is_ pointless," murmured Snape, under his breath.

"What's that Snape?" asked Avery, who had been stood the closest to him.

"Nothing," he replied, quickly, "I was just thinking that we should write to my friend Malfoy. Maybe ask if we can join on some of their rallies or something?"

"Well, you can if you want," said Rosier, "I think this makes more of a statement though." Snape looked at the ground and shuffled his feet.

"But write to him, if you want. It could be a good backup."

* * *

The first cigarette she smoked certainly wasn't enough to quash her worries of a whole year in the exact same lessons as James Potter. Sure, it was true that she had always shared most of her lessons with him each year, with them being housemates and such, but not since second year had she had to spend every single hour of every single school day with the boy, and in what would be much smaller classes than they'd every had before. So she took out a second cigarette and lit it. She always used a muggle lighter and not her wand, it just felt better. Selena had headed back in after the first one, they didn't have much time before their first lesson as it was, and Lily knew she would have to rush to Potions after she finished this. At least Professor Slughorn, the potions teacher, liked her.

"Haven't got a spare one have you?" came a voice from behind her. Lily jumped, and whirled around with a start.

"Sorry," laughed the owner of the voice. It was Aidan Lynch, the Gryffindor seeker who was a year above Lily. He had a strong Irish accent, a gorgeously defined jawline, and a body that looked like it had been carved by the Greek gods. Lily fancied him, everyone fancied him. She didn't really know him as a person, but he was always fun at parties, and, dear god, that _jawline_. She fancied him from a distance, in the way that one may fancy a good-looking celebrity. You don't really know them, but you do anything to get into their bed. Lily felt herself almost blushing, but managed to stop herself from going completely red by focussing on getting a cigarette out of the packet for Aidan.

"Thanks Lily," he said. She was surprised he knew her name, it made her feel all warm and fuzzy inside. She shook it off. Be cool, Lily, she thought, just be cool.

"I think I saw you over summer," he said, using his wand to light the cigarette, "In the Wigan Casino?" A flashback rolled over Lily of the mental, drug ridden night she had spent with Selena dancing to Northern Soul music. A particularly horrid memory of her vomiting violently on to the pavement outside hovered in her mind as she looked at the incredibly good-looking Aidan Lynch. Hopefully that wasn't what he had seen.

"Oh yeah," she said, laughing, "That was a rough night." He laughed too.

"You don't have to tell me that," he said, "I don't know how because that place doesn't even serve alcohol, but I always managed to get more fucked in there than I do anywhere else."

"That's so true," Lily agreed, giggling, "I think it's the lack of alcohol that causes it. You feel like you have to rebel against it, you just _have_ to get fucked."

"Yeah its like you see them serving orange juice and your brain just flips out," he added, and the pair laughed. Lily had finished her cigarette, and the increasing need to get to her potions lesson was playing on her mind. But she just couldn't leave Aidan Jawline Lynch. Luckily, and also somewhat unluckily, he finished his cigarette a moment later.

"Cheers Lily," he said, "I'll see you around." She waved goodbye to him, standing outside still so that he wouldn't see her running to her lesson. But before he had re-entered the castle, he stopped and turned around.

"Do you fancy getting a drink with me tonight?" he asked, "It would just have to be in the common room, so nothing too fancy."

"Yeah alright," said Lily, while her stomach was doing flips, "I'll see you later."

"See you later Lily." His eyes lingered on her just a little too long, and he smiled as he looked at her. She felt a little self-conscious but she smiled back. How couldn't she, she had a date with _Aidan Jawline Lynch._

* * *

`Florence returned to lessons that afternoon. Her first lesson back was divination, which wasn't shared with any of roommates. She was grateful for it, she just needed a bit of normality first and she knew that, with the start of year confusion, no one else would have noticed that she had missed her first two lessons that morning. Nobody did. She linked up with her best friend, Sybil Trelawney, a young hippie girl form Ravenclaw, and the two discussed the attack in terms that soothed her. They discussed how she could return to her zen state, and how she could put positive energy back into the universe to combat the negativity of the attack. It helped a lot. When she did see her roommates, they had a very different view on it, as she had expected. They were all so obsessed with finding out who did it, in checking that she was physically unharmed, and in trying to make her feel safe back in the dorm. All things being said, Florence didn't feel unsafe, nor was she desperate to find who had sent the attack. It hadn't been aimed at her, and she had very quickly recovered from it. It was probably just some dumb Slytherin playing a prank and, due to her generally weird nature, she was used to people pranking her. A lot of people made fun of her, and would hex her as a joke. To her, this wasn't any different to that. She was fine, and her parcel of marijuana had arrived that morning, so she was better than fine when she smoked it that evening.

* * *

When Lily had agreed to a drink that evening with Aidan Lynch. She didn't think it would lead to six (or was it seven?) drinks with Aidan Lynch. She didn't think it would mean a snog with Aidan Lynch. She didn't think that he would get the key to one of the prefects bedrooms, which were officially used for prefects to sleep in when patrolling the halls at night but was more often used for late night hook-ups, from his best friend. She didn't think that she would go there with him. She didn't think that she would wake up the following morning in the arms of Aidan Lynch, having slept with him the night before. And she certainly didn't think she would have been so happy about it.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3- Teenage Kicks

James sat on the end of his bed that morning, his quidditch robes piled up next to him. He was wearing his pyjamas, which were made up of flannel trousers and a Sex Pistols t-shirt. Lupin has introduced him to the muggle band that summer. He held in his hand a note from a girl from Hufflepuff. Greta Catchlove, the pretty if slightly unusual Hufflepuff girl, has given the note to her friend to give to James. It read-

_James,_

_Not to be cheesy, but I'm crazy for you! Drink tomorrow night?_

_Hope you can Brie there,_

_Greta x_

James has read the note a few times. It could not be denied that Greta was a very pretty young girl, with her long blonde hair that had a hint of strawberry to it, and her big hazel eyes, and the freckles on her nose. She was pretty. But she was not Lily. James hadn't dated since he made his 'no Lily' pact with the Marauders, and he wasn't sure if he wanted to go on this one. Greta was lovely, but she seemed a little boring, and James had typically dated girls that were a little more interesting. The fifth boy in the dormitory started to stir in the bed next to him. James always wondered if he should feel sorry for Freddie Proudmore, it must have felt awfully lonely at times sharing a dorm with the Marauders. However, he had perfect grades, was the toast of the Slug Club, came from one of the richest and most powerful pure blood families in the country, and was dating Clarissa Fawley, a Hufflepuff girl from the year above who was the most popular, and was widely considered to be, the prettiest girl in Hogwarts. She wasn't, of course, as people like that often aren't, but if someone is popular people often start to assume that they are attractive too. She was a pretty girl, but it was more her status that the boys in the school found attractive. She was like a trophy to be won, so that the boy could show off and say that he had dated Clarissa.

Freddie rolled over in bed once more, before admitting defeat, and waking up.

"Alright Potter?" He asked, rubbing sleep from his eyes, "What have you got there?" He pointed at the note in James' hand.

"It's a note from Greta Catchlove," explained James, "She wants me to go for a drink." Freddie nodded, sleepily.

"She's alright her," he said, "Pretty sure I snogged her at your birthday last year."

"Yeah I think I did the year before," said Remus, who had just woken up himself.

"Great so she's snogged my whole dorm," said James, "I'm just the last one she needs to complete the set."

"I haven't snogged her," piped up Sirius, drawing the curtains from around his bed.

"Wonder if Wormtail has," continued Sirius, eyeing up the last boy still asleep, "Maybe she's his secret girlfriend."

"I doubt it," said Remus, "Greta hexed him once because he knocked a block of cheese on the floor."

"What?" Laughed Sirius, "Moony that has got to be one of the weirdest things you've ever said."

"No wait," interjected James, "There was weird cheese references in this note as well! What's the deal with the cheese?"

"I don't know," said Remus.

"I heard she wants to like write a book about making cheese," explained Freddie, "Apparently she grew up on a dairy farm."

"What the fuck," said Sirius, "Where do you find them, Prongs?"

The other boys laughed.

"I don't find them," protested James, "She wrote to me. I don't think I'm going to meet up with her anyway."

"Why not?" Asked Remus, "She's pretty!"

"Yeah Prongs," said Sirius, "You may as well give it a go, and if she's all…_dairy weird_ then you just don't meet up with her again."

"I suppose," replied James, rolling his eyes.

"Come on mate, it'll be good for you," added Sirius, "Besides, if she's spent her whole life milking cows on a dairy farm, she'll be amazing at hand jobs."

The boys fell about laughing, waking up Peter.

"What's going on?" he asked, rubbing his eyes.

"We're talking about your girlfriend Pete," said James, "Wondering whether or not she is Greta Catchlove of Hufflepuff house?"

"No, she's not," replied Peter, irritably, "Why?"

"Well she sent me a note asking for a date, so we assumed you weren't satisfying her needs," said James, smirking.

"Oh fuck off."

"Ooooh calm down Wormtail," said Sirius, "Someone's touchy this morning." Peter rolled his eyes.

"So we know that your girlfriend, _if_ she exists-" started Remus.

"- She does fucking exist!" Interrupted Peter.

"Yes, _if_ she exists," continued Remus, to laughter from the room, "She goes to our school, but she isn't in Gryffindor."

"Yes," sighed Peter, "And that's more than you need to know."

"Is she in our year?" Asked Sirius.

"You don't need to know that."

"But we do, Wormtail, we could have a possible morally dodgy issue on our hand here if you're dating a first year." Said Sirius.

"She's not in first year," snapped Peter. The others all watched him expectedly.

"Fine!"he said angrily, "Yes she's in our year."

"Interesting," said Sirius, "Very interesting. Well with Greta Catchlove, and all the Gryffindor girls out of the equation, we're not too far from working this out."

Peter scowled.

* * *

_July 24th 1976 _

Aidan Lynch felt his vision go blurry, the room spinning around him. He could just about make out the music that filled his ears. It was Do I Love You by Frank Wilson. Somehow his drunk mind could manage to sing all the words, though he doubted he could even make his lips form his own name. He danced away, crying the people around him. He tried to study their faces, he was horny and wanted someone to take him home. He knew that the chance was slim, he was in no state to pick anyone up. But he looked anyway. No one particularly caught his eye. The song finished and the song Higher and Higher by Jackie Wilson started. It was strange because, as if like magic, the crowd of people stood around him all seemed to move away at once, as the lights all seemed to focus on one girl. She was dancing in the middle of dance floor, wholly and completely enjoying every minute as she sung her heart out. She was full of pure joy. A huge smile was plastered across her pretty face, and she flipped her long red hair from side to side. She wore a Fred Perry polo and flares, and looked as if she had just thrown the look together whilst still looking outrageously magical. She didn't care how she looked, she was completely in the moment, in a minute of full happiness and without inhibition. It was beautiful. Aidan wished that he knew her, that he could join in with her revelry. God, she was beautiful, and more so because of her confidence and the sense of fun that oozed from her. It was infectious. It was then that he realised that he _did_ know her, unfortunately not well enough to go over and join her, though he desperately wanted, but he _did_ know her. She was Lily Evans. She went to his school, and while she had always been beautiful (something which his quidditch teammate James would confirm), he hadn't necessarily noticed it so much before now. For right then, she was pure fun and pure joy, and nothing could be more beautiful than that.

Aidan hadn't expected when he'd seen Lily that night, and made a mental note to try to chat her up the next time he saw her, that she would be in his bed within the first week back at Hogwarts. It had certainly not been pre-planned, and it had not entirely been his intention. He certainly fancied her, she was gorgeous, and he had a thing for her after seeing her at that Northern Soul night, but he just hadn't envisioned it happening like this. He sat up in bed and watched the girl still asleep next to him. This wasn't an uncommon experience for Aidan Lynch. He was one of the best-looking boys in school, was the champion seeker for Gryffindor, and had all the charisma of a young Freddie Mercury. Everyone fancied him. He didn't find it difficult picking up girls, and he found it even less difficult dropping them the next day. He just had a way with him that would let him get away with murder. It could have been his accent, or his jawline, or the way his dark hair ever so slightly covered one of his bright blue eyes, but he always got away with everything. Even the girls he screwed over never seemed to be angry at him for very long. He was just too charming. H

And he knew that.

But he hadn't intended to charm her. He hadn't intended to play her. He hadn't intended to screw her over. He didn't know what his intentions were, but this hadn't been it, because now, now he had to break her heart, and that was something he really didn't want to do.

He reached into the pocket of his robes, which were draped over the chair next to the bed, and took out a cigarette. He had been lying when he had asked Lily for a spare one the day before, he'd had a full pack in his pocket. He hoped she wouldn't notice. He lit it, and lay back on his pillow, taking a deep breath in. Lily stirred next to him, and running a hand through her long hair, rolled over and eventually sat up.

"Morning," she said, sleepily, a smile on her face, "Give us one of them." She pointed at the pack of cigarettes in his hand.

"Morning," he replied, handing her the pack. She looked different than she had the night before, not in a bad way, but just different. Her makeup had pretty much gone, and her eyes looked wider and younger. She placed the cigarette between her lips and he lit it for her. The pair sat in a slightly awkward silence for a few moments.

"Well," said Lily, inhaling her cigarette as she spoke, "Last night was fun." She laughed, and Aidan laughed in agreement, not yet meeting her eye.

"We should do it again sometime," she said. Aidan shuffled uncomfortably in the bed, before deciding it was time for him to speak.

"Listen, Lily," he began, "I'm not really-"

"Looking for a relationship?" she interjected. He nodded.

"Me neither." She said.

"Really?" he asked, frowning, "Just I thought that you wanted to- Well I guess I'm just saying I'm not really a girlfriend-y type of guy, that's not my thing."

"Yeah," she said smirking, "No shit sherlock."

"What?" he asked, taken aback.

"I kind of knew that Aidan," she said, laughing a little, "The whole school knows that." He blinked, his reputation seemed to be a little worse than what he thought.

"But you still came last night?" he asked, a little confused. Most girls that he engaged with were of the mindset that they could get him into a relationship, that they could change his ways, that they could tame the player. They never could of course, but that's the sort of girl he was used to.

"Yeah," Lily confirmed, a little perplexed, "I don't want a boyfriend right now either. I thought it would be fun to meet up with you, and it was."

"You want to see me again though?"

"Yes," she replied, "You're a fucking good shag, Aidan, I don't want to give that up if I can help it." They both laughed a little, and a wave of relief washed over Aidan. He wouldn't have to screw her over after all. She was even cooler than he had thought. The fact that the whole school seemed to think that he was a filthy womaniser had been a slight knock to what he had thought about himself, but he could soon rectify that. He was charming enough to change that around.

"So," he said, "Friends with benefits?"

"Sounds good to me,"

"Do you want to use those benefits right now?"

"It would be rude not to."

* * *

Florence Lovegood was glad that her attack hadn't become common knowledge across the school. That was one good thing about her roommates, they weren't, at least not typically, the sort of girls that liked to spread things around the school. They were occasional gossips, and Lily always had some kind of drama that she could explain to Selena, but they weren't inherently bitchy. They wouldn't spread things for the sake of spreading them. They were not huge contributors to the Hogwarts rumour mill. They hadn't, for example, told anyone when Florence had taken a particularly strange looking Slytherin boy back to their dorm after a party. They kept it secret from everyone else, even if they gave Florence a fair bit of teasing after the event. He, on the other hand, had told people, and the whole school found out anyway, but Florence was glad that the girls had at least tried to keep her little secret. Trying to keep the people Florence slept with a secret was no mean feat, as she had slept with a great deal of Hogwarts male population. She wasn't a particularly attractive girl as such, which often led some of the meaner girls she knew to speculate as to why she had managed to seduce so many boys. She was pale, with incredibly long, almost calf length, blonde hair. It always went unbrushed, and looked as though it could have any manner of small creatures living within it. She had a slightly pointed face, small lips, and large eyes. She wasn't classically beautiful, but she had this hippie vibe going on, an energy that she exuded from her that made her seem free. It was that freedom, that seeming lack of adherence to the expectations of society, that made her attractive. She was like a boy magnet, and managed to seduce a lot of people with her talk of free love.

She was meditating that morning, but kept finding her mind drifting in ways that it didn't normally. She kept thinking about the attack, about a letter she had received from a boy who had left Hogwarts the previous year, and about her school work. She just couldn't find peace within her mind. It probably didn't help that her dorm room was probably the least peaceful place in the world. Selena was in the shower, singing at the top of her lungs. Florence didn't know the song, but knew she wouldn't like it. Selena was a good singer though, and Florence didn't necessarily mind her velvety tones filling the dormitory. She was used to it by now, after five years listening to her sing, and often found that she couldn't meditate due to the lack of it when she went home for summer. Mary was being relatively inoffensive as well, she was just sat on her bed brushing her long black hair. It was enviably straight, naturally the kind of texture that most girls would spend hours flat-ironing their hair to achieve. Lily's lack of presence in the dorm that morning was moderately distracting, as the reason to her not sleeping there last night niggled at the more curious areas of Florence's mind. Though, no one, not one person, could possibly be more distracting than Amelia. She was sat on her bed, her perfectly ironed and crisp uniform already on her thin frame, writing an essay with a Quick-Quotes Quill. The essay wasn't a piece of homework, she knew that because Amelia was in her defence class and no homework had been set yet by their new teacher, Professor Greengrass. She was writing it for fun, but it wasn't half boring. Her voice was cutting through the other sounds in the dorm, and rang in Florence's ear. It probably didn't much help that Amelia was Florence's least favourite of her roommates, and was probably her least favourite person in her year. She didn't like her. She couldn't bring herself to, no matter how hard she tried. She was just so old fashioned, so prudish, and just so boring. Florence aggressively blew out the incense she had been burning, and tried to draw attention to herself as she threw herself on to her bed. Amelia didn't look up from her essay.

Selena appeared from the shower a few moments later, her short hair dripping on to her caramel shoulders.

"Can you do that quietly, Mil?" she asked straight away. Amelia looked up from the essay, slightly shocked.

"Um, okay," she said, taking a normal quill out from her beside drawer. Florence smirked to herself. She had always liked Selena. Selena had just sat on her own bed, and had started to take a brush through her wet hair, when Lily walked through the door. She was still wearing yesterday's clothes, and a trace of yesterday's makeup.

"Where have you been?" snapped Selena, jumping up on her friend's arrival. Lily had an incredibly smug look on her face.

"Nowhere," she said, grinning.

"Oh come on," said Selena, "You went on a date with Aidan Lynch last night and didn't come back until this morning!"

"Aidan Lynch?" asked Mary, shocked but slightly impressed, "Oh Lily he's an absolute dreamboat."

"Yes he is!" barked Selena, "Which is why I want to know all the gory details!" Lily laughed.

"Look I need a shower," she said, "I smell like a brewery. I will fill you in later, but I will tell you that we shagged in the prefect's bedroom."

"Yes!" yelled Selena, "That's my girl!"

After her shower, and on a mad dash down to the Great Hall, Lily told Selena, and _only_ Selena, about her new arrangement with resident hot boy Aidan Lynch.

"Christ," said Selena.

"What?" asked Lily, "You think it's a bad idea?"

"No, I think it's a brilliant idea," she replied, "I wish I was casually shagging Aidan Lynch."

"Hey you've got Terry," laughed Lily, "Besides don't these sot of things always end up in some kind of heartbreak? I've got a feeling this is all going to blow up in my face."

"Ground rules, honey," said Selena, "You need ground rules, otherwise it _will_ all go to shit."

* * *

Defence Against the Dark Arts was one of Lily's favourite lessons, and the new teacher, Professor Greengrass, was only helping that. He was probably one of the better teachers they had ever had, much better than the useless professor they had for their OWLs. They were practising casting spells without speaking that morning, and the Marauders, whilst very good at it for they had been jinxing people this way since fourth year, were being incredibly loud. Professor Greengrass wasn't exactly a disciplinarian, and clearly had a soft spot for the Marauders. Lily rolled her eyes at them, they honestly hadn't grown up at all in the five years she had known them. She still felt like she was in class with a bunch of eleven year olds. She tried to focus on the task at hand, something which she would normally be relatively easy for her to pick up, but her mind was not clear that day. She struggled to find her way through the fog that Aidan Lynch had created. She couldn't stop thinking about him. She couldn't stop thinking about the way he held her, the way he had touched her. It played back and forth through her mind like a movie on loop. Then there was Selena's comment about ground rules. What could that mean? She knew that she needed something, but she just didn't know what. And how could she broach that in conversation in their currently deeply uncomplicated relationship? Perhaps Aidan would bring it up himself.

James' mind, whilst somewhat in the moment laughing and joking with his friends, his mind drifted to thoughts of his date with Greta Catchlove. He had agreed to meet with her after all, and she had kept shooting him little glances throughout every meal in the Great Hall, and during the defence lesson. She really was very pretty. She kept whispering to her friends, and was clearly incredibly excited to meet him that evening. James felt bad, in a way. He felt like he was leading her own before he even knew whether or not he liked her. He just had a feeling that he wouldn't, and it made him feel bad. He didn't know why, he hadn't felt like that before with the girls he had dated, even though he had always known his intention to screw them over. He hadn't wanted to hex Higgenbottom under his breath, and blame it on someone else's awry spell, and he always wanted to hex Higgenbottom. He hadn't even laughed that much when Sirius had done it instead. There was a change within him when he went back to school that year, and he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was. Maybe it was Greta Catchlove's giggly, pretty little influence.

* * *

Remus was glad when James went off to the Hufflepuff common room for his date, because it meant that he got a reprieve from the slight intensity he had developed in the hours leading up to it. Sirius and Peter were in the common room playing Gobstones, and Freddie was god knows where, so Remus had the room to himself. He was glad of some silence, Hogwarts was amazing and he loved it so much more than being at home, but it did deprive one of _space_. There was very little alone time at Hogwarts, even the quiet of the library could be hopelessly oppressing. He flicked on the radio, switched it to a station he liked and collapsed on to the bed. An intense, but not particularly new, fear had gripped him since the start of the school year. It reminded him of when he had first started at Hogwarts, of how afraid he'd been of people finding out about his condition. His lycanthropy was always a cause of stress for Remus, but this year was another level. For he had been seen, over the summer, by someone. He had gone to the forest of Dean for his transformation, it was usually deserted at night, but someone had been there, someone had seen him. He didn't know who, and he hadn't attacked them, it was probably just a muggle who hadn't even realised what they saw, but it really shaken him up. It reminded him of the time that Snape had seen him, he hadn't known it was him of course, but it had still given him the same sick feeling in his stomach. It had still made him feel as if he was constantly on edge. He knew it would get better, with time, and with more safe transformations, but for now all he could do, was listen to his music and get on with it.

* * *

The broom closet on the third floor was an ever so slightly less glamourous setting for their rendezvous than the prefects bedroom had been, but Lily still enjoyed meeting with Aidan Lynch that night. She still knew, after it, that she most definitely wanted to see him again, and he knew that he definitely wanted to see her. As she put her crumpled uniform back on, Lily thought about the ground rules. It was as good time as an any to raise it with Aidan now, she thought.

"Aidan," she said, and he looked up from doing up his fly, "I think that if we're going to do this, we need to set up some rules."

"Rules?" he asked, a little confused, "Like what?"

"Like," Lily racked her brains for a moment, "No sleeping with each other's friends, or something like that. Just so no one gets hurt."

"Okay," Aidan nodded, "I could go with that. So, no friends."

"Yeah, I think that helps to keep things simple. Friends involved would just make everything a bit weird."

"Agreed," said Aidan, "How about we keep this on the downlow as well? Just because having an arrangement like this can really hurt your chances of pulling when its common knowledge."

Lily imagined a scenario where she was about to take a hot guy home, maybe someone like Freddie Proudmore, and then him knowing/her having to explain that she had a no strings attached casual sex thing with Aidan.

"Yeah, definitely," she agreed, "Anything else?"

Aidan thought for a moment.

"I know we said to keep it quiet anyway," he said, "But can we make sure that James Potter, in particular, doesn't find out about this. He's always had a thing for you and now he's captain of the Quidditch team I think he might kick me out if he finds out."

"Sure." Said Lily, shrugging, that wouldn't affect her much, she never spoke to James anyway.

* * *

**A/N**\- Hello to anyone reading!

Updates are fun, so here's one for you. I will try to get the next one up soon-ish! Please review, reviews are like hot chocolate on a rainy day.

Lots and lots of love,

ImagineHP


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